Welcome back to another issue of Your Movie Mage, where I discuss underrated films across genres. Last week we talked about the rom-com, “Silver Linings Playbook” and this week we’ll be discussing another romance, but the much more unorthodox, “Dinner in America.”
“Dinner in America” follows Patty (Emily Skeggs), a 20-year-old woman living in her parents’ midwestern home, and working minimum-wage jobs that treat her poorly. She’s obsessed with a band called Psyops, which is seemingly the only way she’s able to express herself and feel heard. Everybody around her treats her as though she’s incapable and unable to think for herself. After being let go from her job at a pet shop, she encounters an old classmate of hers turned arsonist, running from the cops. This is Simon (Kyle Gallner), a rude, judgmental and cynical musician who decides to use Patty for a place to stay.
This romance is very atypical, as you may be able to tell from the short synopsis above. Simon is not a normal fellow, as his main hobbies are arson and music, though we don’t know he’s a musician until later in the movie. Patty isn’t a dream girl version of a love interest or main character. Rather, she is a realistic depiction of someone who’s an outcast and treated differently from everyone else. She isn’t perfect, she isn’t made up of quirky interests; instead, she likes music and basketball. She’s awkward and doesn’t stand out.
Regardless, Patty is still a very interesting main character, and as she and Simon spend more time together it becomes clear how great they complement each other. Simon sees something in her that nobody else does, even though Patty struggled due to being treated as though she’s uninteresting and useless. She’s treated like a child and Simon treats her as the adult that she is.
Patty accepts Simon as he is too. She doesn’t judge him for his goals and interests. She isn’t scared of him, and she truly appreciates, loves and understands his music, something he is clearly very passionate about. We learn that Patty had been sending John Q. — Simon’s musical alter ego — love letters. Simon saved them all and was amazed at the writing in them, which were poems/lyrics.
Up until that point, there was no indication that Patty had any interest or ability in music, but we find out that she’s incredibly talented at writing and singing when given the chance to show it. This is crucial because when treated like a human being, as opposed to somebody who’s incapable of doing anything of value, Patty was able to communicate things she wasn’t able to any other way.
Along with the original story and positive outlook on love —being able to find it no matter who you are — there is a great soundtrack, as well. Considering that music is a focus of the film, one would have relatively high expectations that the soundtrack would be good. My only complaint is that I wish there were more original songs, as the three that were showcased were great.
“Watermelon” is my personal favorite, and I’d recommend it to those that haven’t watched the movie as well. The scene where they write this song together is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. We’re able to see the love and connection they have as well as their ability to truly communicate and understand one another in ways that nobody else can.
I also greatly appreciated the ending as it wasn’t unrealistically positive or happy. It’s realistic in that the two characters who are great for each other stay together, but Simon, who committed a crime, does have to go to jail for a period of time. This makes sense and is realistic in the story, but it isn’t negative or treated as such.
We finally see Patty stand up for herself as Simon helps to show her that she is valuable, and she deserves to be treated like a human. We also see that she will pursue music further, something she clearly shows interest in, but never seemed to think was a viable option for her since everyone treated her as though she was only capable of holding crappy minimum-wage jobs.
I give this movie an underratedness score of 4/5 as I haven’t heard anything about this movie and the only reason, I watched it was because my sister watched it. Outside of her, I’ve heard no mention of it, but I’ve found it to be a really fun watch that gives viewers a sense of hope and realism that romance movies often don’t portray.